What do you see?

Submitted by Shaunish.

Shaunish's Connection #3: Perception

Perception is amazingly important. It has the power to change the way people view and understand the world and consequently drastically affects their actions. This image depicts a bundled-up person hurrying from the forest. But on second glance, the impassive face of a man leaps out. In Diary of a Young Girl, Anne believes that the van Daans are complete jerks. She describes them as pushy and full of hot air. But suddenly, she has the revelation that maybe the constant bickering is not completely the fault of the van Daans. She realizes that maybe if her family were better at handling delicate situations and were able to give a smile to all that needed it, then maybe, just maybe, the atmosphere at the Annex would be much more relaxed. Anne has only been looking at the issues from her family's point of view. Anne learns that it is essential to look at things from the other guy's perspective, too. This is important for realizing the innate goodness of people so one can find the strength to forgive.

Alex's Connection: Superior Technologies

Germany was a very tenacious enemy to almost the whole world. Like almost any other superior nation or empire, Germany had advanced technologies. Some countries had no idea how to fight or what to fight with against Germany's Panzer III's and IV's tanks, the MG81 medium machine guns, Sturmgewehr 44's "the first assualt rifles", and many more burdensome weapons. In 300, the Spartans run into the same dilemma. They weren't expecting to win anything because the Persians had gunpowder explosives and other menacing technologies. Usually, in these situations it is probable of the more advanced country winning a war. The Persians did beat the Spartans, but the German's lost WWII. Fortunately, there lost reconciliated Europe, though.

Caroline's Connection #3: China

In China, during the Cultral Revolution, many people were killed for practicing the Four Olds: Old Customs, Old Culture, and Old Habits. Mao Zedong called for the Four Olds to be swept away. As a result, examples of Chinese architecture were ransacked, Chinese literature and classics were burned, Chinese paintings were torn apart, antiquities were shattered. Many families' long kept genealogy books were burned to ashes.

During that time, many ancient Chinese cultural things were destroyed forever. Innocent people were punished just for owning these things. Intellectuals were targeted as personifications of the Four Olds, and sometimes they were mocked, harassed, imprisoned, tortured, or killed. These people had done nothing wrong, yet THEY got embarassed because Mao had to open his big mouth and go for changing verything. Similarly, in Germany, people were persecuted solely because of their religion. This all happened because a person rose out of the blue and pushed all the blame on them. History just keeps replaying itself in different forms. If people took the time to examine things, its all the same thing in different places with different people and different goals, but all based off of similar ideas.

Caroline's Connection #2: Japanese Internment

During this period of time, many innocent Jews were killed. The Germans blamed them for all of their problems. In order to get rid of these "pests" they sent them to concentration camps and attempted to kill them and exterminate them as if they were no better than bugs. Likewise, in the US during World WarII. Pearl Harbor had been bombed,and the US questioned the patriotism of the Japanese who had been living in America at the time because of their ancestry. Most of these people were American themselves yet the rest of America decided to send these innocent people to Internment Camps. Many lost their career, and most lost their property. These people had done nothing wrong. They shouldn't have been treated like traitors. They were wrongly accused and unfairly punished for other's mistakes.

Running out of ideas...

The way Anne writes about time, it seems almost like school, or maybe a summer camp. They have to wake up at a set time, and they can only use the bathroom at a set time. Lights are on and off at set times. Then, everything else is set, too. The food is divided up, and they have to keep the volume down. It all seems extremely irritating, especially considering that they have to follow those rules for years or face death. The great disappointment is that even following such regulations didn't keep them from facing death. Only one out of all eight of the Annex family made it out after all of that.

AE 3 Hopefully that wasn't too bad...can you tell we're running out of ideas?

Niki's Three Connections: Text to Text & Self

In The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne describes the hopeless feeling she gets from hearing the stories about many of her friends that were dragged off by the Gestapo, and most likely to their death. She is forced to stay in hiding with no way of helping them even though she wishes she could. This reminds me of the movie Prom Night. Donna, the main character, is forced to hide under a bed while a crazed murderer brutally slaughters her mom in front of her own eyes. Donna has no way of helping her mom because even just one slight shift or noise would alert the attacker of her location and would result in her own death too. Both girls experience deep regret for the fact that they are still alive while those they love are not.

The people living in the “Secret Annex” are forced to eat the same foods for long periods of time and Anne finds herself sick of these foods. On page 70, Anne proclaims, “We have eaten so many kidney beans and haricot beans that I can’t bear the sight of them any more. The mere thought of them makes me feel quite sick.” This quote clearly expresses Anne’s new-found hatred for these beans form excessive consumption. From living in South Florida, I have endured several hurricanes such as Ivan, Jeanne, Francis, and Katrina. In preparation of these natural disasters we are forced to stock up on non-perishable items such as Campbell’s soup and Chef Boyardee. When the lights go out, we are forced to eat these foods for as long as we have no power to cook food or until the restaurants are reopened. After only 3 days of eating these foods I became sick of them and did not want to eat another bite. I can relate to Anne because even though eating those foods was much more long-term for her, I still know what it is like to grow sick of something after extreme amounts of it.

Life in the “Secret Annex” follows a continual pattern that has hardly any variation. Anne uses three of her diary entries to describe the morning, mid-day, and night routines of the household. It is often easy to find comfort in these schedules because they become familiar and soon an easy way to do things everyday. Anne’s description of this routine reminded me of a part of the book Everlost by Neil Shusterman. In this story, Nick and Allie fall into a cycle that becomes almost unbreakable and nearly impossible to end. Once they began a cycle that they found enjoyable, they kept at it for a period of several months before realizing the time that had slipped by. Although Anne’s routine is not an unhealthy one like Nick and Allie’s, it is one that if kept from month to month. At the first few weeks for in hididng, the families create this cycle, but end up utilizing it for the next 21 months. Nick and Allie develop theirs in a few days and maintain it for about 4 months. This shows that once humans acquire a monotonous life, it is easy to sustain. Thank you, Niki Lewis

Ali's Connection #3: Our trouble learning

I know some of my classmates have mentioned genocides, such as the Turks killing the Armenians before the Holocaust or the massacres going on in Rwanda in the present-day. My connection is to Fahrenheit 451. The ending of that book covered some ideas that I thought were extremely relevant. Humans are compared to phoenixes, always rising from the ashes. Not any ashes, but their own ashes. Germany is still here. Despite the terrible assault on the Jewish community, they are still around. Austria-Hungary didn't make it out as a country, but life goes on in the place where it once was. The human race is strong.
But as strong as the human race is, it seems to have trouble learning. No matter how many times we rise from the ashes of genocide, the human race does not seem to be learning from it's mistakes; that was another point covered in Fahrenheit 451. We do the same thing over and over again; are we expecting it to turn out differently? The first concentration camp opened on March 23 in 1933. World War II didn't begin until 1939. That's six years of looking the other way; a lot of people can be killed in six years. We are ignoring genocides today, just like we did with the Holocaust. How well did that work out last time?

John's pop cultural connection

Anne Frank was a girl who, after her book was published, many girls wantedto grow up to be like her. Anne is similar to musical "sensation" MileyCyrus, better known as Hannah Montana. All little girls wanted to have theirjournals published, and wanted to be like her. Now, virtually all girls wantto be like their little hero, Hannah Montana.

Monica: 2 & 3

In Diary of a Young Girl, Anne describes the horrors of concentration camps during Hitler’s reign. Another book I read, I Have Lived a Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson tells a fictional, but realistic tale of a 13-year-old Holocaust victim Elli Freedmann. The story describes Elli’s journey from her Hungarian home, to a Jewish ghetto, and finally to Auschwitz, a brutal concentration camp. The story, told similarly to Anne’s, captures a realistic depiction of the dark time in history, but adds elements of youthism and naivety, for both Anne and Elli are coming of age during the time frame in which the story is told.

Monica's Connection #3
As the plot of Anne’s story continues, a prevailing generation gap is clearly established between Anne and the adults of the Annex. Anne, on several occasions, b ecomes frustrated with Mrs. And Mr. Van Daan, as well as Mr. Dussel and even her mother. This situation relates with the younger generations of today’s society and the particular alienism they may feel toward adults. Anne and many other teens often feel intimidated by adults, feeling “they don’t understand.” And as technology and society advances, older generations tend to reminisce more on the time of their youth as opposed to advancing as the world is. Because different generations are not growing at the same time, and experiences in history that affect us are diverse, it was and still is difficult to relate between the generations.

Shaunish: The Stranger

"Dearest Kitty,Can you tell me why people go to such lengths to hide their real selves? Or why I always behave so differently in the company of others? Why do people have so little trust in one another? I know there must be a reason, but I think it's horrible that you can't confide in anyone, not even those closest to you."

In this passage (page 168), Anne laments that she cannot be her real self in the company of others. The singer and pianist Billy Joel made a similar observation in his song "The Stranger."

"Well we all have a face That we hide away forever We take it out and show ourselves When everyone has gone Some are satin Some are steel Some are silk And some are leather They're the faces of the stranger But we love to try them on."

Both noticed that everyone acts different when they are around people. Joel took it one step further and made a metaphor for the way we act when we are by ourselves and compared it to a mask. When we are alone, there is no reason at all for us to lie to ourselves. But when we are with others, we are trying to impress them and make them think highly of us. We are sometimes afraid to show our true feelings.

Derrick's 3 Connections

Connection one
In the first few days Anne is in hiding she almost enjoys it. She even said it felt like like a big game of hide and seek, hiding from the Nazis. After the first days she relizes how horrible it is and how everybody is fighting with eachother. this is like in the book Farenheit 451 Montag thinks his life is fine. He then meets Clarice and she point out how bad the world actualy is. Clarice is like going into hiding because she shows montag how bad his world actualy is.

Connection 2
Anne and her family dont get along very well. This is probably because she spend all day evreydy with them. Anne cannot leave the house or do anthing. If you think about it her feelings toward her family are normal. If you were stuck with anybody in one small house and were not able to leave you probably wouldnt be to happy.

Connection 3
Last summer i had to read a book called The Boy who Dared. it was about a boy who was the same age as Anne. He and his friends were also trying to fight the German army and Hitler. although the boy was Geraman he still lost hsi life, just as Anne does because of Hitler. This shows how it wasnt just the Jewish people that died, but the German peopl ewho did not belize in Hitlers practices.

Sommy: Art of Expression

"There is a saying that 'paper is more patient than man'..." --page 2
"Yes, there is no doubt paper is patient and as I don't intend to show this cardboard-covered notebook...to anyone..." --page 2

People worldwide have their ways of expressing themselves maybe to let their emotions flow.

For example, artists may sketch some art that reflects their feelings while an author might begin to compose a book. Also, many people might write a letter to express their anger towards someone but instead of sending it, they would just throw it away. Another example is that many young girls may have a diary in which they write about some childish things just like Anne Frank. They can freely show their emotions without letting the thoughts and ideas of other people get in the way or interfere. Sometimes, I even just talk to my pets to tell them my feelings because I know they can't respond and point out flaws and make excuses.

Carly's Connection #3: Women's Rights

Throughout time (note: in some cultures) women have been looked down on as “the lower” or “more dependant” species. However women rights movements in the last 100 or so years have liberated many countries and cultures into opening their eyes to the equality that women do deserve. In D.O.A.Y.G Anne is in the brink of a feminist revolution and she wonders why she is considered less of a person because of her gender. (See text below) Excerpt from D.O.A.Y.G. {pg. 314-315}
“One of the many questions that have often bothered me is why women have been, and still are, thought to be so inferior to men. It’s easy to say it’s unfair, but that is not enough for me; I’d really like to know the reason for this great injustice! Men presumably dominated women from the very beginning because of their greater physical strength; it’s men who earn a living, beget children and do as they please… Until recently women silently went along with this, which was stupid, since the longer it’s kept up, the more deeply entrenched it becomes. Fortunately, education, work, and progress have opened women’s eyes. In many countries they’ve been granted equal rights; many people, mainly women, but also men, now have realized how wrong it was to tolerate this state of affairs for so long. Modern women want the right to be completely independent…. Women should be respected as well…..”

Link to “Timeline of Women’s Rights” http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html

Carly's Connection #2: Money

In Diary of a Young Girl, Anne talks of the raging battles that go on in her house over money and possessions. The van Daans almost always seem to be the center of these arguments. For instance on pg. 136 “Mr. And Mrs. van Dann have more raging battles. The reason is simple: they’re broke.” However Anne’s family and herself are not secluded from these wars. Money has always been an issue no matter what century you live in. In the 1930- 1940 there was the Great Depression, WWI in 1914- 1919, WWII in 1939 to 1945, and today as we go through a recession.

Matt's Connection #3: Persecution of Christians

One way that I can relate the Diary of a Young Girl to the current world is that, currently, Palestinian Christians are being executed everyday in Palestine. I can relate this in a few ways.

For staters, any Palestine Christian walking the streets get killed on the spot. In addition, Christianity, like Judaism, is one of the world's largest religions. Now, in contrasting view, Jewish people have been persecuted for many years, whereas persecution of Christians is a relatively new concept. Adding on, in Palestine if you are Muslim and one of your family members converts to Christianity, chances are you would kill your now-Christian family member without batting an eye. In conclusion, German persecution of Jews and Palestinian persecution of Christians are similar in many ways but the Palestinian persecution is more sadistic in the family realm.

Matt's Connection #2: Siblings

One way I can identify with the book is the relationship between the two Frank sisters. Relating to Margot, I, too, also try to educate my siblings to the best of my ability, similar to the duty she has to fulfill by teaching in the Annex. With relations to Anne, I also get infuriated at my siblings for one reason or another. For instance, when I had close to no advanced classes and my little brother was highly exalted for his intelligence, I was often infuriated at him thinking that he was “smarter than me”. This is similar to when Anne was jealous of Margot for her outstanding grades. Another instance is the infuriation that siblings cause each other by their behavior. In one of Anne’s first entries in the Annex, she describes Margot as a “goody-goody”, which, for some reason, infuriates her. Like Anne, I am infuriated by my little siblings’ behavior, the only difference being that I am angered by my siblings misbehaviors as opposed to their “goody-goody”-ness. In conclusion, though I dislike Anne and Margot, I can relate to the way they treat their siblings.

Matt's Connection #1

In my opinion, Anne possibly exaggerates on how people treat her. My evidence supporting this is the fact that at one point, her mother attempts to be kind to her (entry April 2, 1943), which shows she is not as cruel as Anne usually describes her. In addition, in numerous entries Anne claims that she and her father always get along swimmingly. In my mind, this is the unrealistic babbling of a teenage girl: It’s a proven fact that in order for a relationship to be successful there must be some conflict. Also, notice that in the mother entry I mentioned above, Anne claims that Otto doesn’t even talk to Anne about disrespecting his wife! This, in my view, is so out of tune with reality that I literally wanted to throw the book away (why is this book a worldwide phenomenon?), Otto at least had to say something! Either that or he feels no loyalty towards his wife, and he feels more loyal towards his daughter! In conclusion, I believe Anne lives in this unrealistic fantasy world where only a select few (or, more appropriately, one) person is kind to her.

Morgan's Connection #1:

Throughout the main parts of the Diary of Anne Frank, she talks about all of her struggles and points of view on the actions taking place during her lifespan. In this (supposed to be) private and personal source, she reveals everything that is going on. Near the genesis of the book, Anne talks about her personal life and how all she really desires is a true best friend. When they are forced to move into hiding, I relate to Anne in so many ways. She tries her best to get along, at first, because she knows that it is her one and only chance of survival during this horrific time of the Nazi ruling let by Adolf Hitler (whose main goal is to take control of the world).

If I was Anne and was forced to move into hiding, I might have taken her perspective on hiding out (pretending that it was one long vacation). And I'm sure I would have grown just as old of my family as she did (with the exception of her father). Being in those ridiculously close quarters for a length of time such as it was, caused Anne to pay quite a large price, as it would have taken on any one of us teenage girls. Also like the normal teenage girl, Anne makes nick-names and jokes to herself and to her best friend (her diary Kitty). For instance, Anne has nick-names Mrs. van Dan, Mrs. Beaverbrook. This is because everyone living in the Secret Annex believes that she should be married to Mr. Beaverbrook because she agrees with everything he says over the radio. Life during that deathly empire for the Jews was highly difficult, but Anne managed to handle it with much grace and as much composure as was possible for a teenage girl who was forbidden anywhere from the house.

John's Connection #2: concentration camps in U.S.

Although there were concentration camps for Jews in Europe, America had its own type of concentration camp for another race: the Japanese. After PearlHarbour, America "relocated" [citizens of] Japanese [descent] into camps over the western U.S., because the U.S. feared that there was Japanese espionage. Although this was a logical reason, it was still awful that the U.S. was stooping to Germany's level by having these camps. America has apologized after the war for this,but history cannot be erased and it still happened.

Graham's Connections

When my cousin was about four years old and just learning how to write, her mom encouraged her to keep a journal. My aunt was a Literature teacher before her kids were born and she thought this was a very productive way to teach kids to learn how to spell, write and read. The journal had stuck with my cousin and she continues to keep one even now. I have countless memories of her reading me passages and passages of it. These stories varied from five year old-thoughts of swimming at the pool during Summer to pre-teen problems with friends and school. While it never really occured to me to keep one, growing up with her, I could definitely see how writing in a journal or diary helps people with their problems and certain aspects of life. As Anne goes through the hardest life of any teenage girl her age, continually writing in a diary keeps her grounded and from becoming too caught up in the horror going on around her.

Anne is a teenager. Growing up in a family in the 21st century even with our ipods, tvs, and cell phones seems extremely difficult, especially after you factor in school and homework. While I could say that we all relate to Anne and her family troubles, of course no one could possibly understand how stessful family life is when just outside your house are life threatening dangers galore. She is constantly arguing with her family and dealing with their harsh comments about her actions and statements, and i think that is something we all go through while growing up. She still remains true to who she is, a quick thinking girl with a good head on her shoulders and that is definitely something that will help her later in life.

The movie Australia showed a continent that generally doesnt get much publicity pertaining to world wide affairs. In Australia during WWII, another race was being discriminated against. Children of mixed races (usually half European and half Aborigine) were sought out and taken from their homes. These Creamies (as they were derogatively referred to), much like the Jews, were extremely overpowered and didnt stand a chance. Commonly their fathers, the only people who had a relevant say in the matter, were the ones who worked to get these children to Europe and away from their homes for a false chance at a "well brought up life and good education." The difference between these two cases is that while one tragedy ends in the enslavement of a race, the other is the horrific genocide of the Jewish religion.

Reid's Connections

Australian accents, British accents, and even Polish accents. There are thousands of different ways to speak a single language. Like many of us southerners use the word Y'all which stands for you all and Australians cant get enough of their mates, the polish say Mummy instead of saying our present day, Mom. We say Mom just as Anne Says Mum. She also writes it in her diary just like us people today at how we say Like often and we use it when we type.


In schools there tend to be talkative people or also class clowns. This duty of the classmates can be passed around or remain solely to a few people. At one time when Anne Frank happens to be quite talkative with people sitting near by her, she is told she is a chatterbox and is told she needs to write an essay on it. Mr. Lyon at our school assigns a similar punishment to talkative students by having us write a certain number of pages. Also like her school, there is always someone to assume the position of being the talkative person or the class clown.

While under this Hitler domination, he limited a certain type of group of people which were the jews. He had thousands of techniques to murder them in ghastly ways. His reason of limiting was unconstitutional and stupidly an excuse for the germans problems. In China today, families are not allowed to have a 2nd child to control population. Unlike Hitler's reason, China has a reason to do this with sense. But if i was to be born in china i would probably have to be moved or killed. This is just like the jewish having to leave homelands in flee for lives..

Morgan's Connection #3

“‘When Mr. Kleinman enters a room, the sun begins to shine,’ Mother said recently, and she’s absolutely right.”

“You should have seen him when he told us good-bye [for a surgery on his stomach]. He acted so normally, as though he were just off to do an errand.”

“He [Mr. Kleinman] came to tell us he wasn’t feeling well and was going home, and for the first time he seemed really down.”

All throughout Anne’s diary, she refers to Mr. Kleinman in very complementary, peaceful, and positive ways. This is a very strong notion because we all have observed that Anne’s observations are very raw and matter-of-fact. When she talks about Mr. Kleinman, she very rarely has many negative things to say about him. I would think of him as almost the angel of the Secret Annex that these survivors are trapped in for the moment. He has major problems with his highly ill stomach, and yet, when he walks into a room “the sun begins to shine”. That metaphor alone is a VERY strong one because considering none of them are allowed outside of the annex, comparing Mr. Kleinman to the sun is comparing him to one of their greatest desires, to go outside. The last quote says, “and for the first time he seemed really down.” Those nine words showed his true character.

According to Anne, everyone is fighting and bickering over stupid stuff in the tight quarters of the annex, but Mr. Kleinman shines like the sun and sets a great example to all of the adults and children who are acting like fools and who should be lucky to be alive. Anne doesn’t spell it out in her book, but it almost seems like Mr. Kleinman is one of her more dominant role models, and definitely a person who deserves great respect.

Morgan's Connection #2

Living in such close quarters as Anne is forced to do would be a very difficult thing to do. Sometimes, the relationships of all the residents of the Annex decline as tensions start to increase. Anne has realized that many of the other occupants of this secret hide-out think that she is very rude, annoying, childish, selfish, etc. During her sheer boredom, she realizes that she may have flaws, but many of the other inhabitants also do, too. When Anne thinks about how much she wants to change and be better for the living conditions she is forced into right now, she can’t help but think that her personality is not all that bad. As far as relationships come, Anne and her mother are not close at all because her mother is constantly harping on her for everything that Anne does wrong, causing strong anxiety between mother and daughter.

On this note, I can very much relate to Anne here. My mother and I always travel together for cheerleading competitions and it is just me and her for sometimes a week at a time. Unlike Anne, my mother and I are very close to each other, but to associate with her situation, we have more arguments than usual because of the living quarters. When my mom and I are put into a very enclosed space where we encounter a week straight of plain one on one time, things can get a little tense, which is what is happening with Anne and her mother, just to a very large extreme.

Shirley's Connection #1

“(Page 1) I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

Even though Anne has friends, she feels that she is not able to entirely open up to them. One can easily have many friends, but to find one person you are totally able to confide in is extremely difficult. Anne’s one “friend” that she could completely confide in was Kitty, her diary. Kitty was her one great source of comfort, the one thing she could confide everything too. Everyone must have at least one person or thing they could trust everything to; something that they could talk to about everything. For Anne, it was Kitty. A diary is an amiable candidate for it will never judge you, and it will never leave you wondering about what it will think. Sometimes, when I have a situation I have to tell someone, I write a diary entry. Although I don’t keep a diary regularly, there are times where I have to write my feelings down or I feel like I’m about to burst. If Anne did not have Kitty, she might have not been able to be as strong.

Jessica's Connection #3

Most people have been told, at least once in their life, to eat a food that they loathe. Anne devised a tactic to eat loathesome food by doing the following: "I put the dish in front of me, pretend it's delicious, avoid looking at it as much as possible, and it's gone before I've had time to realize what it is." (pg 124) I use a similar tactic when I have to eat food I don't particularly enjoy eating (namely, avocado). First, I quickly put the food in my mouth and avoid thinking about how undelectable it tastes. Next I chew and swallow it once again without thinking about the food. Then I repeat the process again and again until, before I know it, the food is gone. I'm sure that many other people use this method to eat food that they do not like. Note: It is interesting to really the small details that Anne writes in her diary (like the detail about eating loathsome food). Most of these details seem rather insignificant, but they really add to the "realness" of the whole diary. It would be very difficult for anybody to come up with a fictional Holocaust survivor diary that would match the reality and authenticacy of Anne's diary.

Carly's Connection

(Pg. 244) God has not forsaken me and he never will.

(Pg. 320- 321) He isn’t religious, scoffs at Jesus Christ and takes the lords name in vain, and though I’m not Orthodox either, it hurts me to see him so lonely.

(Pg. 320) People who are religious should be glad, since not everyone is blessed with the ability to believe in a higher power. You don’t even have to live in fear of eternal punishment; the concepts of purgatory, heaven and hell are difficult for people to except, yet religion, any religion keeps a person on the right track.

Anne is an inquisitive religious teenager. She, just as some of us are, is forever blessed with her belief system. I think that her faith gave her the strength. Strength to believe that God had not forsaken her, but as using her in his master plan. (Her book being published and distributed throughout the world to shed light on the Holocaust) Her faith gave her strength to believe that she would get out of hiding and that her people group would recover and be accepted back into society. But last, her faith may have helped her believe that there was a place set-aside for her in a higher order.

Monica's Connection #1

In The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, Anne seems to have a strong bond with her cat, Moorjte. This relates to many families today, in that pets now days are treated more as an equal as opposed to an actual animal. Pampered pooches and flattered felines are being well taken care of, and I know I can relate to the angst Anne feels in leaving Moortje behind while the rest her family is put into hiding. The first time my dog, Jack, was left at a kennel while we went on vacation was both a frightening and melancholy experience for my entire family. The mere thought of leaving a member of your family behind can be terrifying, and the moment our car pulled out of lot, we agreed we would never board him again. I can’t imagine how Anne would have felt, not knowing for such a long period of time how her cat was, or what he was doing.

Alex's Connection #2

Sometimes life can be tough when you are in an argument with a close family member. It's natural but not fun. Imagine having to live with a whole different family while in hiding from the Nazis. The Frank family had no other choice when they arranged to share an annex with the van Daans. Many times Anne didn' t express any sympathy towards Mrs. van Daan. "Mrs. Van Daan's a fine one to talk! She sets an example all right---a bad one! She's known to be exceedingly pushy, egotistical, cunning, calculating and perpetually dissatisfied. Add to that, vanity and coquettishness and there's no question about it: she's a thoroughly despicable person."-----The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank (pg. 116-117) When two families are immensly concerned about there lives at stake, there's no doubt that the pressure and fear will lead to anger and neglection. Even with Mr. Dussel, problems don't seem to straighten out. Living with another family and Mr. Dussel makes Anne Frank's teenage life rougher, but also makes her diary entries more compelling.

Jessica's Connection #2

Anne's life ends before she has any chance to live her hopeful dreams about life after the war. This is a fact that most readers of the diary know prior to reading the book. In the novel Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, the young protagonist's older sister eventually dies from fatal sickness. It is clear that death will take her, even from the start of this bittersweet novel. On the back of the book where there is some information about the novel, her death is partially implied. It is sad to read about her talking and thinking about her furture life when you know that she will not have one. As I read about Anne's fantasies of the future, I feel the same sadness I felt when I read Kira-Kira. Both girls are characters that you can really come to love (especially Anne, who was a real person who wrote from a real girl's perspective), and it is very sad to know that they will die as teens in the end.

John's Connection #1

During the height of Hitler's power, Hitler was striving to conquer theworld. Although he had only conquered most of Europe, he was on track tohaving the next great empire of the world. I connect Hitler's Third Reich tothe Roman Empire, which was the dynasty of its time. Both were feared andwhen they were at their peaks, had vast expanses of territory, with theRoman Empire's reaching from Asia to Eastern Europe and the Third Reich hadnearly all of Europe. However, both were toppled by opposing nations. Also,in both empires, the people living in them began to grow unhappy. Anotherfactor was both empires eventually became too large to control, like theGermans attempting to attack the massive country of Russia. This shows thatno empire, however mighty, can last forever.

Sommy's 2nd Connection

In The Wave by Todd Strasser, students are studying about the Holocaust. The teacher feels as though his class would be more exciting if they participated in an interactive activity. He decides he is going to create a "Nazi Party Replica." Coincidently, in The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank, Anne has the rise of Adolf Hitler occuring around her. For example, people who didnt join the Wave were criticized and discrminated against and similarly, Anne is discriminated against when she must follow restrictions that other people such as Christians didn't have to. Todd Strasser created a novella about this event while Anne actually grew through her adolescence during that time.

Rohil's Connection

During the time of Hitler's power, he attempted to conquer other nations to take over the world. That was sort of the idea at the time of the Age of Exploration before the 18th century. People like Christopher Columbus and Hernando de Soto tried to explore the Earth, conquering new lands.

Similarly, Adolph Hitler during his during his power, attempted to take over many surrounding nations to Germany. As he acquired the helpless countries, he restricted the rights of the citizens in them; primarily Jews and people who weren't "German".

Correspondingly, during the Age of Exploration, nations like Spain or France were invading unexplored areas and gaining new lands. When they gained control of the lands, the Native Americans were treated unfairly and were hated by many. Hitler prohibited anyone who wasn't German from doing many things. In The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne describes how Jews had to go to only Jewish stores and restaurants. Alike that, Native Americans were restricted from doing pretty much anything and were even forced out of their own land.

Jessica's Connection

mirrors Ali's observation... (several hours apart.)

Anne Frank is suprisingly similar to the generic picture of a teen girl. Like the typical teenager, she struggles with her family and her emotions. Young Anne feels a seperation from her mother and writes that she does not love her. Many modern day movies portray teen girls having conflicts and bad feelings towards their parents, which is similar how Anne feels towards her mother and, to a lesser extent, to her older sister Margot. Anne views her older sister with some jealosy, which is not uncommon among the majority of siblings. She recieves average grades in school and keeps a diary, similar to girls of our time. Anne also has relations with boys (such as with Hello in the earlier entries of her diary) like most girls do.When you look at the whole picture, Anne Frank, a girl that lived decades before our time, is really not much different than the teenage girls today.

Alex's Connection

According to In These Times, there is genocide currently going on in Africa.
While Rwanda and Sudan have gained the media’s recent attentions, Ethiopia has had its government trying to destroy ethnic groups where many lives are being lost. Ethiopia's government currently commits crimes against humanity and its actions are considered genocide. Many people just want their basic rights, but instead the government is denying their simple request. This results in execution, enslavement, and torture.

The Jewish race undergoes similar preposterous treatment in The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne Frank believes that she won't finally be safe from genocide until the end of World War II. She and her family try their best to keep in hiding, but it's not that easy when Jews are denied their access to the outside world. Anne is not allowed to walk the streets or go to school like a normal girl does or otherwise she might be killed. Germany's government is unyielding in trying to bring an end to the Jewish race.

Genocide has now been around for quite some time and both Jews and many other ethnic or religious groups such as the Ethiopians have suffered intense persecution.

Ali's Connection #1

Strange as it may seem, I feel I have to make the connection between Anne Frank and many girls my age (and her age) that I know today. Specific examples are how Anne complains about her grammar, history, and math work, and how she and her sister's relationship fluctuates. I doubt there are many kids that age who don't complain as she does, and I know for sure that I can fight with my sibling sometimes and be his best friend at other times.

Another way she seems like other girls I know is how she seems to plan out her future a little bit. "Cissy van Marxveldt is a terrific writer. I'm definitely going to let my own children read her books too," Anne writes, apparently not taking into consideration the possibility of dying in a German concentration camp. Other times that she reminds me of some modern teenage girls are when she falls out with her mother or when she makes remarks about her appearance. She writes in her diary about her weight at one point, and also about asking her sister whether or not she was pretty.

Shaunish's Commentary #1

In the Diary of a Young Girl, Anne discovers what it's like to be in hiding. The most important thing in her life is to not be caught by the Germans. One little slip is all it takes for her life to be thrown in a blender. There exists a perpetual fear in the back of her mind that today could be the day that the Nazis find her at last.

In the final book of the bestselling series Harry Potter, Harry is on the run. The government, which has been taken over by Death Eaters, is hunting him down. Like Anne, Harry must take extraordinary precautions not to be caught, for his enemies have all the resources of the government at their disposal. But both hero and heroine have many dedicated friends to see them through the danger (and quarrel with these friends often). And both brave souls never lose hope of survival, no matter how bleak the horizon seems.

Sommy's Connection

The 1870s were a time of segregation between Africans Americans and whites. For example, blacks had to sit in the rear of the bus while whites had the right of sitting in the front. Also, blacks had to use completely different restrooms and water fountains. They weren't allowed in some hotels and restaurants. And they were just flat out discriminated by many whites. Similarly, in The Diary of A Young Girl by Anne Frank, Anne delineated the discrimination against the Jews during the early 1930s. Jews couldn't attend many restaurants (just like the blacks), and they also weren't allowed into any other store unless it bore the placard of "Jewish shop." She explains some of the things that Jews had rights stripped from them such as not allowing them to drive the car, use trams, or visit theaters, and cinemas (or other places of entertainment). They were to be indoors by 8:00 and Jews weren't allowed to visit Christians. Like the Africans, Jews were forced to attend separate schools. In these ways, Jewish people were treated like the blacks were in the United States.

Kathryn's connection

On page 69, Friday, November 12, 1942, Anne says, "No matter what I'm doing, I can't help thinking about those who are gone. I catch myself laughing and remember that it's a disgrace to be so cheerful. But am I supposed to spend the whole day crying? No, I can't do that. This gloom will pass."

In the Book Cold Sassy Tree, the main character feels the same way. Will's grandmother died recently in the book and Will's father won't let him read the Sunday comics. He, just like Anne, feels guilty to be happy at some parts of the day, because back then, it was traditional to mourn for about a year or longer. Anne is the same way in that she feels sorrow for those who couldn't get yaw like her and her family. She knows that she's lucky to be alive, but both characters take many things for granted.

In the same sense, Will Tweaty's grandfather brought a new member into their family, just like the Franks and the van Daans. This new person made things more difficult because Will's grandfather took a new wife about three weeks after his wife died. The Franks and the van Daans took on a new member to live with them in the secret annex, Mr. Dussel.

Poems in prison

Not sure if this hotlink will work for you, but try it. If not, try googling "A Prisoner's Song" by Jeanne Marie Guyon.
Pick a poem from the page. Try explicating. What do you think it means? How does it compare to Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, "Sympathy?" How does it compare to Anne Frank's experience in hiding?

http://books.google.com/books?id=Hc13Rp-sJh8C&pg=PA424&lpg=PA424&dq=%22A+Prisoner's+Song.%22+Jeanne+Marie+Guyon&source=bl&ots=zqhvPKttgs&sig=obbD30qiRs1cfYc2LBZ9K7SjH58&hl=en&ei=lT2xSYPKNKKBtweE2MXCBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Over the course of the next six weeks you'll be reading the insightful diary of a young Jewish teenager under persecution during the rise of Nazi Germany. Anne Frank's journal is raw, genuine, thought-provoking and compelling. This collection of observations, musings, pinings and declarations gives us a unique snapshot of human life in captivity.

Your task is to:

• make a series of 7 connections with the author, text, situation, history, experience and/or the world. Write a minimum of one paragraph and please be thoughtful and respectful in your connections.
• respond to at least 7 of your peer's paragraph connections.
• find and define at least 5 interesting words and provide the passage where you found the word. (No repeaters...first come, first served!)
• record a favorite passage in the book and explain why it appeals to you.